Detection Guidance

The vulnerability involves timing side channel leaks in shared-secret comparisons due to early length-mismatch checks instead of fixed-length, constant-time comparisons. Detection on a network or system would require monitoring for timing discrepancies during secret comparison operations in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.4.2.

Since the vulnerability is related to internal timing differences in secret comparison functions, direct detection via network commands is not straightforward. Instead, detection involves verifying the OpenClaw version and inspecting the code or logs for usage of ad-hoc timing-safe comparison implementations rather than the centralized safeEqualSecret helper.

To detect if your system is vulnerable, you can:

• Check the installed OpenClaw package version; versions before 2026.4.2 are vulnerable.
• Review webhook handler code or logs for usage of manual timing-safe comparison functions or early length-mismatch checks instead of the safeEqualSecret helper.

Suggested commands to check the OpenClaw version installed (assuming a Node.js environment):

• npm list openclaw
• npm ls openclaw

To inspect code for vulnerable comparison implementations, you might use grep or similar tools to search for timingSafeEqual or custom comparison functions:

• grep -r 'timingSafeEqual' ./path-to-openclaw-source
• grep -r 'safeEqualSecret' ./path-to-openclaw-source

Note that detecting timing side channel leaks via network traffic or system commands alone is challenging without specialized timing analysis tools or instrumentation.

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-41407 is a timing side channel vulnerability in OpenClaw versions before 2026.4.2. It occurs because the software uses early length-mismatch checks instead of fixed-length, constant-time comparison functions when comparing shared secrets. This causes measurable timing differences that attackers can exploit to learn information about the length of the secret, weakening the intended constant-time security protections.

The vulnerability arises from inconsistent and ad-hoc implementations of timing-safe secret comparisons across various webhook handlers, which were replaced by a unified, secure helper function in the patched version.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability allows attackers to measure timing differences during secret comparisons, leaking information about the length of shared secrets. While it does not directly enable authentication bypass, it compromises the constant-time security guarantees designed to protect shared secrets.

By leaking secret-length information, attackers may gain insights that could assist in further attacks or weaken the overall security posture of the system handling sensitive shared secrets.

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Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate the timing side channel vulnerability in OpenClaw, you should upgrade to version 2026.4.2 or later, where the issue has been fixed.

The fix involves replacing all ad-hoc timing-safe secret comparison implementations with a unified, shared helper function named safeEqualSecret, which ensures constant-time comparisons and prevents timing attacks.

Additionally, the updated code rejects empty authentication tokens before comparison, improving validation robustness.

• Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.4.2 or later.
• Ensure that your webhook handlers and secret comparison logic use the safeEqualSecret helper function.
• Reject empty authentication tokens explicitly before performing secret comparisons.

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Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of CVE-2026-41407 on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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